


Rain Comes Down

by wordsliketeeth



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Adult Kise, Angst, Caretaking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Frustration, Illnesses, Supportive Kise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-02-18 12:41:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18699811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wordsliketeeth/pseuds/wordsliketeeth
Summary: "Your heart holds nothing but love for him, and usually, Kise's mere presence is enough to break down the negative chemicals that gnaw away at the corners of your mind, but not today." Reader is sick and Kise struggles to make her believe that he's okay with taking care of her.





	Rain Comes Down

You're staying on the top floor of a luxury hotel in the heart of Oakland, California. The view is breathtaking if you can stand to look out past the blinding brilliance of the sun. The summer heat is visible in the waves rolling off of the pavement and the shimmering in the air that distorts distant landmarks. You don't have to see down to the sidewalks to know that there's sweat clinging to the many shades of people passing by. The air is stagnant and thick with humidity, but there's something sweet in the way it smells when you step out onto the balcony and inhale a deep breath.

Only a handful of minutes slip from your fingertips before you hear the familiar sound of the door's mechanism click into acceptance as an electric beep confirms access to the room. You don't bother turning around because you hear the peal of Kise's voice the second he steps inside the main seating area.

“You shouldn't be out there, ____cchi,” he warns, toeing off his shoes. “You should be resting.”

You exhale a long sigh and feel the weight of it leave your body as you round your shoulders and lean against the glass railing in front of you. You stare out and over the shorter buildings that line the street across from the hotel until your eyes begin to water due to the bright of the sun. You flinch when Kise wraps his arms around your waist and presses his chin against the slope of your shoulder.

“What's wrong, ____cchi? You're usually happy to see me when I get home,” Kise says, and you can hear the edge of disappointment in his voice.

“It's got nothing to do with you,” you confess, but there's a note of sadness in your tone you can't disguise. You turn around slowly, and it's like turning away from one sun to look at another. “Let's go inside. It's too hot out here and you could do with a good shower,” you tell him, wrinkling your nose at the state of his rumpled clothes.

“Hey! I did shower!” Kise exclaims, his voice lilting into a sound just shy of a whine.

You arch an eyebrow before stepping past him and back inside. “There's no way you showered.” You hear the door slide shut behind you as you slump down on the couch. “Your clothes are damp with sweat, your hair is sticking to your forehead and your cheeks, and you stink of manly esteem.”

Kise laughs as he sheds his shirt and begins to shuck his shorts. “Hey, you like the way I smell. 'Sides, I did shower...once, after practice.”

You lean against the back of the couch and tip yourself sideways just enough to tug at the blanket beneath you. “And I'm guessing you saw some kids playing in the park on your way home and you just _had_ to join them.” You drape the blanket across your lap and reposition the decorative pillow nestled against the small of your back.

Kise's mouth breaks into a wide smile while he lifts a hand to rub at the back of his neck. “Yeah...something like that,” he says, chuckling softly. “It's just so hard to wind down after practice—being in the middle of playoffs, it's just so exciting. Especially because we're playing the Cavaliers next.”

You watch him speak animatedly, and the warmth in the smile that spreads across his lips like honey turn to light in his eyes. Your heart holds nothing but love for him, and usually, Kise's mere presence is enough to break down the negative chemicals that gnaw away at the corners of your mind, but not today.

You fake a return smile and hope it passes as believable, and you think for a second that it does because Kise's walking past the couch and in the direction of the lavish bathroom. You lower your gaze to your lap and notice that you're twisting the blanket around your fingers. You close your eyes and exhale a sigh as you force the absentminded action to stillness. You tilt your head back and blink the room into focus, and the only thing that keeps you from crying out in surprise when you see Kise hovering over you is that you've just realized that there's no sound of running water coming from the shower.

Kise plants his palms on your shoulders and begins to massage the tension beneath his fingertips. “You're jumpy today,” he notes, digging his thumbs in against the tight resistance of your muscles. “What's going on with you? I can tell something's off.”

You don't know why but Kise's persistence lights a spark somewhere deep within you. You try to bite back your irritation but the trace has already spread to an open flame. You shift and pull away from his ministrations, the need to remain discreet burning to ash along with your fortitude.

“Did I do something wrong?” Kise asks, looking as wounded as he sounds. It's almost as if you can visibly see the damage that you're causing him by being so distant. For a brief moment, you feel so conscious-stricken that you want to get up and take Kise into your arms and apologize for being so temperamental lately, but the sentiment is gone as quickly as it comes.

“It'd just be nice if you'd stop pretending like things are going to be any different when you come home.” Your tone is hostile and cold, contrary to the fire burning through your veins. “You act like nothing's changed since we met. You act like everything remains the same.” Kise's hand brushes the top of your head and you're so overcome with emotion that you nearly jump off of the couch to get away from him.

Kise stares at you, grief and bewilderment writing a story behind his eyes that you can't bring yourself to study. “But why would I act like things are any different when I love you just the same?” Kise's voice shakes into a discordant cry of concern. “What do you want me to do? Treat you like you're sick?”

“No! I just wish you'd stop acting like everything is fine. I know that it can't be _fun_ to take care of a sick person. I know that's why you've been staying out longer,” you accuse, lifting your head to face Kise directly. “Why do you stay with me if I'm just a burden?”

Kise stares at you for a long moment, his eyes wide and his mouth slack with words he wants to say but can't quite frame on his lips. You can't stand the pregnant pause or the tension that hangs between you like a live wire, so you start in the direction of your borrowed room by means of escape. However, Kise darts forward and curls his fingers around your arm.

“What are you talking about?” His tone shifts an octave lower, into the voice he uses when he's being wholly honest. “You're not a burden to me. When I come home and ask you how you're doing, it's because I want to know. I take care of you because I _want_ to. Do you honestly think that I'm faking this? When have you known me to do anything that I haven't wanted to do? I'm just trying to treat you how I think you deserve to be treated—like a _person_ , a person who I deeply care about. I'm not so shallow that an unforeseen iceberg in the waters of our relationship is going to send me off the deep end.”

“How can you say that?” you exclaim, the trill of your voice rising high. “You have a future ahead of you! You _made_ it, Ryōta. How can I allow myself to sit back and watch your life come apart because of me? I'm holding you back,” you choke, the words catching on a dry sob that collects in the back of your throat. You feel tears collect along the lines of your lashes and stream down your cheeks. You try to turn away from Kise but he takes your face in his hands and ducks his head down to look you dead in the eye.

“I don't want a future that doesn't have _you_ in it,” he tells you, earnest and sincere. “I have just as much say in this relationship as you do and if I wasn't happy, I would tell you. I don't know what inspired you to think any of this, but I can promise you that you being sick has changed nothing other than the fact that I want to help you get better. I've only been staying out longer because I was worried that I was starting to suffocate you. That, and I wasn't lying when I said that practices have been getting longer and harder.” Kise sweeps his thumbs over your cheeks and wipes away your tears. “I'm in this with you, ____cchi. I want to be the person standing in your corner.”

You sniffle and squeeze your eyes shut as pain lances through your chest. “I'm so tired of being sick all the time, Ryōta. I just want to be the person I used to be. I want to be able to do the things I used to do. I'm tired of being in pain all the time, I'm tired of going to appointment after appointment and having tests done every other week. I hate it, and I just can't imagine someone who has an option of whether or not they participate in this choosing to walk the same path as me. It seems selfish and unfair of me to even allow it.”

Kise tips your head back and before you can parse what he wants, he's kissing away the salt-damp tracks that stick to your skin. Your knees begin to shake and all of the strength left in your body is handed over to chance. Then Kise takes you in his arms and offers you respite as if he knows that this is what you need, just like he always does. He places a firm kiss on the top of your head and holds you close. “I understand your frustration and I would never take away your right to feel the way that you do. But you can't speak for how I feel, and the answer to all of this comes easy to me. In fact, it's the surest I've been about anything in my life.” Kise draws back and puts himself at arm's length. “I do it because I love you. I care about you more than anybody else in my life, including myself, and you of all people should know, that's saying something.”

You smile tearfully at Kise's attempt at humor. “I'm so sorry for making you deal with all of this. Not only do you choose to take on my illnesses, but now you have to deal with my emotions too.” You gasp in a quiet pursuit to catch your breath and raise your arm to brace a hand on Kise's forearm. “I don't deserve you.”

“You don't need to apologize. I know how hard it is for you. I've been with you every step of the way. I might not be going through what you are physically, but I know what it's like mentally. It's hard to watch someone you care about suffer and I've witnessed it firsthand. If I could take it on for you, I would in a heartbeat. Your happiness means everything to me.”

“I still don't know what I did to justify getting as lucky as I did with you,” you say softly.

“Do you mean that literally or figuratively?” Kise quips, his eyes bright and his mouth crooked on a teasing smile.

You tug away from him, laughter light on your lips, and wipe away the last of your tears. “Both, I guess,” you answer unevenly.

“You _guess_?” Kise emits a huff of air that sounds like offense, and when you look at him he almost looks insulted. “If you can't say with one-hundred percent certainty that I'm the best sex you've ever had, I have a lot of work to do.”

You open your mouth to respond but Kise's already taking you by the wrist and leading you in the direction of the bathroom. “What are you doing?” you ask him weakly, thoughtlessly following behind the pineapple-haired boy.

“I'm taking you to the shower with me. I still stink and you still need cheering up.” Kise says, stepping over the bathroom's threshold and stripping out of the last stitches of his clothing. His underwear catch around his foot and he kicks them across the room with an air of impatience. He walks over to the shower and turns on the water, jumping away from the spray when it begins to rain down onto the tile floor.

“Are you going to shower in your clothes?” Kise asks you, tilting his head to the side and smiling. He steps forward and teases his fingers beneath the hem of your shirt, and before you have a chance to reply, he tugs the fabric up and over your head. “You were too busy ogling me to get undressed, weren't you?” His fingers glance the staircase of your spine, and while he works the clasps of your bra free, you're chasing a shudder down into your toes.

“Oh shut up,” you say, reaching out to brace a hand against the curve of Kise's shoulder when he removes your bottoms as a single unit. You nearly lose your balance but Kise catches you without pause, almost as if he expects it.

“You're so beautiful,” he tells you, his knuckles grazing your cheek in a featherlight gesture that underscores his sweet disposition. “I'm so lucky to be able to call you my own.” He takes you by the hand and turns it over in his own, his lips ghosting the lines of your palm with a chaste kiss.

“I'm cold,” you whisper, though, it's not for the temperature in the room but the series of reactive chills that Kise's putting in you.

“I can remedy that,” Kise answers, directing you toward the shower.

Once under the warm spray, he tugs you close and runs his hands down the length of your spine. “Are you feeling any better?” he asks, ducking his head to nuzzle his face into the juncture between your neck and shoulder.

“A bit,” is your reply, slightly breathless and shaky on emotion. Then after a second: “That tickles,” you say, giggling and pushing at Kise's muscled chest.

Kise smiles against the smooth column of your throat and begins peppering a trail of kisses up your wet skin. He wraps an arm around your waist and fits a hand against the delicate line of your neck. The embrace bespeaks passion and desire, but Kise somehow manages to maintain an air of affection rather than perversion. He touches every inch of skin within his reach and kisses every freckle, mole, and blemish that mottle the upper half of your body. When he draws back his face is glistening; droplets of water cling to the long lines of his lashes and kaleidoscopic beads of moisture that catch rainbow in the light dapple his lips.

You shift closer to Kise and cover the tips of his toes with your own, then you lean forward and lick away the water on his mouth. Your hands are flat against his chest and you can feel the thrum of his heartbeat beneath your fingertips. He is the vitality that you need, the support that you crave—and you chide yourself for being so blinded by habitual skepticism that you couldn't see the truth before.

Kise reaches for a bottle of shampoo behind you but you catch his wrist in your hand. “Can we … can we just stay like this for a minute?” you ask him hesitantly, not fully understanding the fear that catches in the dark of your throat.

Kise lowers his arm and tangles his fingers in your damp strands instead. “We can do whatever you want.” He presses a long kiss to your forehead and tightens his hold on your waist. “I'm here for you, ____cchi. Just tell me what you need and I'll do whatever I can to make it happen.”

Your mouth curves into a reflexive smile and you wrap your arms around him tightly. Water flows down your body and steam sticks to your skin but nothing feels as warm as the physical contact Kise's offering you. And at that moment, when you close your eyes, you're able to see what's been right in front of you all along. It's irony at its finest but you're finally able to see that nothing in this world can come between the love you have for each other, not even illness.

You keep your eyes closed and press your cheek in against Kise's chest. Then, after what feels like a short moment, Kise clears his throat and says: “____,cchi? I'm getting really pruney. I'd like to hurry up and shower now.”

Seeing the truth for what it is can be eye-opening and as vital as the blood that runs through your veins, but every now and then, it's just as important to know that some things never change.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
